# AHAVA and Sephora



## TooMuchElectric (Jul 15, 2014)

In the Enablers thread, someone mentioned that Sephora is participating in a boycott of Israeli products, which is why they no longer carry the AHAVA brand. 

One response:



gemstone said:


> If you did any research on this at all, sephora has not carried ahava products for years. There is a huge amount of controversy surrounding this company because they are located in an illegal settlement in the West Bank yet are still marketing their products as "made in Israel." Sephora chose to remove the products from their shelves several years ago after being taken to court in France over it, and not wanting to involve themselves with the controversy. The idea that they are not selling the products because they are made in Israel is just not true- but I have seen people posting this on their facebook.
> 
> Eta: they have also posted several times that they are not participating in any kind of boycott against Israeli products.


If anyone has more information to contribute, feel free to post it here so we don't derail the other thread.


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## JenTX (Jul 15, 2014)

Following as I would like to hear more!


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## TooMuchElectric (Jul 15, 2014)

I didn't look very hard for information, but I did see that Sephora sells Ahava internationally http://www.sephora.fr/Ahava/BAHAVA


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## JenTX (Jul 15, 2014)

TooMuchElectric said:


> I didn't look very hard for information, but I did see that Sephora sells Ahava internationally http://www.sephora.fr/Ahava/BAHAVA


That seems really strange. Why would they sell it there and not here?


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## gemstone (Jul 15, 2014)

Jennifer Leigh said:


> That seems really strange. Why would they sell it there and not here?


There are a lot of products that they don't sell in different markets.   sephora france sells chanel, for example, but doesn't sell tarte products.


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## gemstone (Jul 15, 2014)

Here are some links, all of the info I posted was from doing a basic google search:

http://www.cosmeticsdesign-europe.com/Market-Trends/Sephora-taken-to-court-over-products-from-Israeli-brand-Ahava

http://electronicintifada.net/content/ahava-campaign-comes-court/8881

https://www.facebook.com/Sephora/posts/10152279053499405

Most of the info out there is from 2010- I have no idea how this rumor got started.


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## normajean2008 (Jul 15, 2014)

Jennifer Leigh said:


> That seems really strange. Why would they sell it there and not here?


Sephora has said (multiple times by now, lol) that they quit carrying AHAVA in US stores/online because of lack of interest/sales in the product.  It has been at least 6 years since they've not sold it here, which is how long I've been a regular shopper with them, and I've never seen the products at Sephora.  It could have been before that even, I'm just going by what I've personally seen as a shopper.  

Brand contracts end all the time, just like Lorac and Sephora OPI recently, and they were more popular than AHAVA is.  They still sell AHAVA products in certain countries abroad because they have enough interest in them.  

It is just political nut-bags trying to to "make a point" etc and in the process they're slandering businesses and spreading lies/freaking people out.  They think they can bully their agenda, when really they're just being ignorant and obtuse.  The same as people who were bashing JCP stores because they had Ellen in their commercials, which meant they must be promoting everybody to turn gay (rolls eyes) and dissing the "American family" etc.  

I get that "some" people are truly concerned and curious, but so many of the people posting (like on their FB page) are just doing it over and over to cause a stir and/or make Sephora look bad for no reason.  It is one thing to ask once or twice, but over and over and over... ugh, stab my eyeballs out please.  It is getting really annoying.  :-\

I don't even get why they are picking on Sephora about Israeli products... how many popular Israeli brands/products are there even? Why is AHAVA the only company they have to mention?  They don't even have an honest interest in the AHAVA brand as a customer...they just want to look cool being all political.  It isn't like 99% of major US stores are carrying Israeli products either.  Are those people going to boycott and slander all major stores now too?  

That's my two cents anyhow.


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## JenTX (Jul 16, 2014)

normajean2008 said:


> Sephora has said (multiple times by now, lol) that they quit carrying AHAVA in US stores/online because of lack of interest/sales in the product.  It has been at least 6 years since they've not sold it here, which is how long I've been a regular shopper with them, and I've never seen the products at Sephora.  It could have been before that even, I'm just going by what I've personally seen as a shopper.
> 
> Brand contracts end all the time, just like Lorac and Sephora OPI recently, and they were more popular than AHAVA is.  They still sell AHAVA products in certain countries abroad because they have enough interest in them.
> 
> ...


A few assumptions....

1- I think there is a lot of interest in the Ahava brand. And, I think there was back when they made the statement of that being the reason too - especially regionally in places like New York and Los Angeles.

2- if that is the reason, I could understand them not selling it in their stores but it seems silly to not sell online since there is definitely enough interest to support an online business.

3- Ahava is definitely, by far the biggest, oldest and most well-known cosmetics company out of Israel. There are a lot of newcomers like Amika, but they are not at all known for being Israeli and including ingredients only found in Israel (which Ahava is known for, since they are known to include, and market themselves to include Dead Sea ingredients in their products.

4- you're right, Facebook isn't really the place for this discussion. I think people need to get their facts straight. When I real the first comment, my reaction was questioning, especially since I do know they sell some Amika (although definitely not enough).

5- however, this is an honest concern for a lot of people. There are a lot of companies who boycott Israeli products (you can find them with a quick google search) and for people who believe in Israel's right to exist and to defend herself, this is a massive blow.



gemstone said:


> Here are some links, all of the info I posted was from doing a basic google search:
> 
> http://www.cosmeticsdesign-europe.com/Market-Trends/Sephora-taken-to-court-over-products-from-Israeli-brand-Ahava
> 
> ...


  
I googled too and basically everything was from 2010. For Israel supporters, it is good that Sephora is open that they do sell Ahava elsewhere. If they wanted to boycott Israel, they wouldn't sell Israeli products anywhere. I applaud the girl who posted there and asked the question before jumping to conclusions.


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## JenTX (Jul 16, 2014)

And what do you know.... There are actually four new Amika products on the site now. Not sure how long they've been up but I check the Amika brand page pretty often in hopes that they will start selling the products and not just the tools (because one stop shopping is so much easier for me and I happen to love Amika).

I wish Sephora would just reply to these people saying "oh but we do carry Israeli products, check out Amika!" So that this issue could be laid to bed.


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## gemstone (Jul 16, 2014)

From what I've been reading, though, people's general dislike for Ahava is not because it is an israeli company, but because they are located in an illegal israeli camp in the palestinian occupied west bank, yet they receive benefits and tax credits for products being "made in israel"

http://world.time.com/2012/05/25/why-south-africas-decision-to-rebrand-some-israeli-imports-packs-a-punch/

From B'TSELEM - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories: "Despite international law’s prohibition on exploiting the natural resources of occupied territory, for decades Israel has allowed Israeli private entrepreneurs to profit from the resources at two main sites in the area."

http://www.btselem.org/sites/default/files/201105_dispossession_and_exploitation_eng.pdf

I know that there are people looking to all products made in israel, but the AHAVA boycott is very different from this.


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